What A Magical Feeling
by DatHeetJoella
Summary: While out in Hogsmeade, Haruka noticed that Makoto was acting oddly upbeat. At first he didn't think much of it, but as Makoto's mysterious behaviour continued, he couldn't help but be curious as to what was going on. - MakoHaru Hogwarts AU


**A/N: A little while ago I rewatched a bunch of Harry Potter movies and no matter what, my brain always tries to turn everything into MakoHaru. It wasn't far-fetched this time as Hogwarts AUs are one of my favourites ever and there isn't nearly enough Hogwarts!MakoHaru out there. They say that you should write what you want to read, but I was a bit hesitant at first since I have so much going on fic-wise and thought my time would be better spent writing other things. But my friends over on Twitter encouraged me to just write this fic because I did really want to write it, which brought us here. The idea at first was to write a short, little self-indulgent fic, but as usual it ran away from me and ended up being much longer than I expected.**

 **There are a couple of things I want to mention before the start of this fic.**

 **First off, I have not read or seen anything related to Harry Potter and the Cursed Child and while technically, this fic would be set around the same time, I ask you to not think of this book. However, the events that take place in the first seven Harry Potter books did also happen in this universe, but anything that happened after the Battle for Hogwarts did not. Think of it as an alternate universe of an alternate universe, if that makes sense.**

 **Another thing I want to mention is that, while this fic is set in Great Britain, Makoto and Haru are still two Japanese boys. They do speak English with each other, but are from Japanese descendant. It is pretty obvious in this fic, but I still wanted to mention it to prevent any possible misconceptions.**

 **And lastly, this fic features elements that are only shown in the books, but it's not like it's not understandable if you've only seen the movies. It has been a while since I read the books and I read them in my native language, so I'm sorry if there's anything that's inaccurate, but I tried my best.**

 **Sorry for rambling for so long, but I hope that you will enjoy this little self-indulgent fic!**

 **TW: A tiny mention of blood, but it's so small that you won't even notice it.**

* * *

With intertwined fingers they walked through the High Street of Hogsmeade, leaving footprints in the snow in their wake. The air around them was filled with the hustle and bustle of the busy shopping street and a comfortable silence hung between the two of them.

There was a slight spring in Makoto's step and he seemed to be even more cheerful than usual; he was always excited on the weekends they were allowed to go into the village because they were able to go on 'proper' dates - not that they didn't spend the majority of their time together inside of the castle, but studying in the library and hanging out in the common room or their dormitory wasn't the same, according to him. Haruka just went along with him for as long as he got to spend time with Makoto, he didn't really care where they were.

Even if Makoto had always enjoyed going to Hogsmeade, something was different now. He was beaming and he practically emitted happiness, but Haruka didn't know the reason behind his elation. As far as he knew, nothing out of the ordinary had happened that could be the cause of it. They had gone shopping like they always did when they went to Hogsmeade, even if they didn't need anything from a shop in particular, they enjoyed the simplicity of browsing through the wares with each other's presence as well as the change of scenery that the shops provided. Now they were just wandering around without any specific destination and although they both loved to take walks together, that still didn't explain why Makoto was so upbeat.

Whatever it may be, it didn't really matter; all that mattered was that he was happy and the sight of that beautiful smile etched onto that equally beautiful face filled Haruka with the same amount of happiness.

After a little while, Makoto broke the pleasant silence. "Haru?"

"Hm?"

"Is there anywhere you still want to go to right now?"

"Not in particular," Haruka shrugged, "Why?"

"Ah, I thought we could head back a little earlier today," Makoto said, the tone of his voice indicating that despite it being a suggestion that warranted Haruka's agreement, it was what he wanted.

"Already?" Haruka asked in bewilderment, "We still have at least two and a half hours left before we need to start heading back." Usually when they were done shopping and had taken a stroll around the village they would have a drink at Madam Puddifoot's Tea Shop; even though neither of them were big on the decorations, they still preferred the general cosy atmosphere over the ones at the local pubs. They had gone there pretty much every weekend trip here and they had grown quite fond of the time that they could spend there, so Haruka had no idea why Makoto would propose to skip out on it in favour of going back to the castle when he normally wanted to stay here for as long as they could.

Perhaps it had something to do with his inexplicable exhilaration.

The gentle smile that appeared on Makoto's face and the softening of his gaze clearly showed that he was right. "There's something I want to show you."

"What is it?"

"It's a surprise," Makoto giggled, and when Haruka frowned at him he pretended to zip up his lips.

Although he could always easily pry the answer out of Makoto despite him acting steadfast, for some reason he felt like he really wouldn't budge today. The twinkle that was sparkling in his forest green eyes told him that maybe, in this case it would be better for it to stay a surprise. So Haruka decided to play along. "A surprise that can't wait two and a half hours?"

All Makoto did was shake his head, his smile widening with excitement. Whether the surprise itself was something that couldn't wait or if Makoto would burst if he didn't show it soon, Haruka couldn't tell, but it made him incredibly curious as to what it was. Even if he knew Makoto better than anyone, he had no idea what Makoto could possibly be talking about. The thought of Makoto hiding something from him made him feel a little odd, but if it was something Makoto was so excited to show him, then it had to be positive and harmless.

"Alright," Haruka complied and in response Makoto's smile stretched even further and he squeezed Haruka's hand lightly and his pace fastened.

Eager to see the source of Makoto's elation Haruka matched his step without question, failing to suppress a tiny smile himself.

Then Makoto suddenly stopped in his tracks. "Wait," he said, "Before we leave… can we stop by Honeydukes?"

A knowing smirk stretched Haruka's lips; the sweets shop was purposely not included in their usual shopping route, because the sight of cakes and candy always managed to tempt Makoto. Despite this, they still ended up at the shop more often than not so Haruka was definitely not surprised by him bringing it up now. Therefore he couldn't help but want to tease Makoto a little. "Restocking your secret chocolate stash?"

"I'm just going to get some Chocolate Frogs for the twins; you know they're collecting the cards," Makoto defended, his pink cheeks turning a shade darker at the mention of his not-so-secret stash.

That was a blatant lie and they both knew it; there was no way Makoto was going into the sweets store and leave with just Chocolate Frogs, so Haruka just couldn't resist poking fun at him. "So you're going to let the twins have the frogs too?"

"Well, I wouldn't want them to expire, so I have no choice but to eat them myself," Makoto reasoned with a witty grin, "The sacrifices of an older brother."

Haruka snorted at that. "Whatever you say."

They arrived at the shop and Makoto held the door open for him, the chiming bell announcing their entrance.

There was no need to browse through the goods for long as Makoto was more than familiar with the placement of his favourite chocolates and candy. Despite his interest in trying out new things every once in a while, he clearly hadn't forgotten about his haste to go back to Hogwarts and therefore he didn't dwell.

Still, the whole scenario had left Haruka in a somewhat teasing mood and he jokingly said, "If you eat too much chocolate, you'll fall off your broom."

"But the more chocolate I eat, the bigger I get and the more of me there is to defend the goals," Makoto argued and Haruka couldn't help but chuckle softly at his clever retort.

"Well, in that case," Haruka muttered before he went to grab some Cauldron Cakes and Chocoballs and handed them to Makoto, "You better get more than just Chocolate Frogs; the twins already have most of the cards anyway."

Makoto laughed lightly, "I might actually get even bigger and fall off my broom if you keep spoiling me like this."

"Nonsense," Haruka brushed off, actually meaning it this time; even with Makoto's addictive tendencies, it didn't matter how much chocolate he ate because everything seemingly turned to muscle rather than fat. From when he was young Makoto always built muscle easily, which in combination with his broad frame benefit him a lot as a Keeper. Not that it would matter if Makoto did gain some fat, because regardless of his size, Haruka would love him all the same, but with his genetics combined with his fairly healthy lifestyle - save for the chocolate habits, then - he doubted that would happen any time soon. "And even if you did, there are sacrifices a captain must make for his team."

All Makoto could do was giggle at the way Haruka used his own phrase against him.

Once they got everything they needed they headed to the counter to pay when Haruka exclaimed, "Wait. You forgot something."

Turning around to face him, Makoto frowned and asked, "What?"

With a deadpan expression Haruka held up a box of Cockroach Clusters.

"Oh, haha," Makoto said sarcastically, after which he shook his head with a fond sigh, "Gross. Let's just go, alright?"

After they paid for the candy of their choice they left the shop to continue their way back to the castle, their free hands finding each other once more. Makoto seemingly forgot all about their antics in Honeydukes and was instead completely focused on the surprise he was talking about earlier; the excitement that he emitted before returning to him in the form of a badly suppressed smile and small squeezes in Haruka's hand. Not another word was spoken about it during their walk back to the castle, but Makoto's demeanour rekindled the flame of curiosity that resided inside of Haruka's mind. He had absolutely no idea what to expect so there was no way he could prepare himself for anything. Either way, he was anticipating the big reveal and he wondered if it would make him just as excited as Makoto was right now.

When they approached the gate and the caretaker, they released each other's hand. It was more out of courtesy than anything else, for the entire school knew about the relationship between the Hufflepuff Quidditch Captain and Seeker. It was all Haruka's own fault, though.

It wasn't like it had been a secret to begin with, but they just never really told anyone and kept their physical contact to a minimum outside of their dorm. There had been speculations about them, but there hadn't been any clear evidence to confirm or deny the rumours. Until one day.

They were in their fourth year and were playing a Quidditch match against Gryffindor. Just when Haruka caught sight of the Snitch, he heard a loud bang followed by shocked sounds coming from the audience; a Gryffindor Beater had smacked a Bludger right into Makoto's direction and it had hit him square in the face, knocking him off his broom and making him fall fifty feet to the ground. Immediately Haruka lost all sight of the game and he flew over to Makoto before jumping off his broom. The former captain called for a time-out while Haruka cradled Makoto's upper body in his arms. He was unconscious and his nose was bleeding and appeared to be broken, and Haruka's first instinct was to grab his wand and fix it, but the fear of possibly doing something wrong and damaging Makoto's face even further held him back from doing so. Makoto was directly transported to the Hospital Wing of the castle so the matron could take a look at him and heal him and Haruka didn't leave Makoto's side for a second. Missing two of its team's members, Hufflepuff had to forfeit and therefore Gryffindor won, but Haruka couldn't care less about that, because all that mattered was Makoto's well-being.

When he woke up in the Hospital Wing some time later, the only remaining injury he suffered was a minor concussion and Haruka was so relieved that he forgot their surroundings and kissed Makoto in front of everyone present; their teammates as well as their Head of House and some other professors and students.

Needless to say, the news of their relationship spread like a wildfire after that.

"Mr. Tachibana, Mr. Nanase," the caretaker addressed them when they got to the gate, "Already heading back?"

"Yes, sir," Makoto answered politely, "We still have to write an essay for Transfiguration, so we figured it would be better to get started on it now it's still calm in the library."

Haruka had to do his best to suppress a snort at his unintentional pun, not wanting to blow the cover Makoto had come up with. Makoto had probably practiced his lie on their way here because it sounded so natural that even he would have believed it if it weren't for the knowledge that they had already finished that essay the day it was assigned.

"Diligent as always," the caretaker remarked as he checked their names off his list. Makoto's reputation preceded him; another student might have raised suspicion upon claiming to rather spend time on homework than in Hogsmeade, but it wasn't hard to believe it when a good student like Makoto said it.

"Thank you, sir," Makoto nodded before he and Haruka entered through the gate, "Have a good day."

"You too, boys."

When they were long since out of the caretaker's sight and hearing range, Haruka laced his fingers through Makoto's again and asked, "So, where is this Transfiguration essay?"

"I'll show you," Makoto laughed breathily, "But first, let's go back to the dorms to drop off our things."

Did that mean that for whatever reason, it was inconvenient to take their stuff to the location of his surprise? Despite this question immediately popping into his head, Haruka decided not to ask it so he wouldn't ruin the big reveal so he simply said, "Alright" and went along with him.

The large, familiar hallways of the castle were mostly empty, save for a few first and second years. The sight of other students didn't make them break the hold of their hands; even though the younger students weren't there when it was big news, even they knew about Nanase and Tachibana, and honestly Haruka was glad about that. The confirmation had left quite a few people disappointed back in the day, and with their relationship being a well-known and accepted fact, no one would try to confess to Makoto again. Besides that, it had made Makoto a little less shy and reserved and being able to hold his hand throughout the day and steal a chaste kiss here and there was definitely a plus point.

They took the stairs down to the basement, passing by the kitchens and reaching the barrel entrance of the Hufflepuff common room. Makoto took out his wand and tapped the designated barrel in the right rhythm with practiced ease. The door opened up and they stepped inside the cosy basement that had been their home away from home for the past five and a half years.

After the Second Wizarding War the number of students at Hogwarts decreased rapidly; all of the casualties and the fear that the aftermath of the war bestowed upon the wizarding community caused the amount of students to be low for the years afterwards. It was slowly increasing again, but there still weren't as many students as there were before the war. That, paired with the fact that despite everything, Hufflepuff remained the underdog and kept its status of least popular House, resulted in there not being many other boys in their year; only five were sorted into Hufflepuff in their first year.

Makoto and Haruka were actually really glad about that, because that meant that they had their dorm room all to themselves; the other three boys had already agreed to stay in one of the rooms together, which left them with the second one. One of the things they were most worried about before coming to Hogwarts was the factor of having to share a room with strangers, so it just being the two of them for the upcoming seven years was a huge relief.

If anything, it gave them a whole lot of privacy.

"You can keep your coat on," Makoto said once they entered the room.

Humming in response, Haruka plopped down onto his bed, staring at the patchwork quilt that covered it while Makoto began to restock his sweets stash that consisted of both Wizard and Muggle candy.

Between these walls they spent the past couple of years together and the room was filled to the brim with fond memories that brought a surge of warmth to Haruka's heart whenever he recalled them. All of the nights they spent cuddled close together under the covers, whispering heartfelt confessions, exchanging soft kisses and holding each other tight.

When they first enrolled Makoto was really homesick, especially during the night. He had never been away from home for so long and when he was left alone with his thoughts then he'd think about his family and how much he missed them. The first night he had been softly crying into his pillow, for even if he hadn't been gone for long yet, the thought of not being able to see his family until Christmas was enough to make him miss them already. Haruka hadn't said anything, he had simply grabbed his pillow and crawled into Makoto's bed. Ever since then, sharing a bed was an old childhood habit brought back to life and they hadn't stopped sleeping together despite the changes in their bodies as well as their relationship.

But because the beds at Hogwarts were not exactly broad and Makoto very much was, around their third year it became impossible for the both of them to comfortably sleep in the same bed even when snuggling. Even if Makoto said that it was alright, he would go back to sleeping in his own bed since the homesick feelings weren't even nearly as bad anymore as they were two years ago, Haruka knew that he didn't actually want to do that - and neither did Haruka himself. So there was nothing left to do but to look for a solution - what was the point of being a wizard if he couldn't even solve a problem as simple as this one?

From that moment on Haruka began to turn their two single beds into one double bed, so they had the freedom to sleep in whatever position they wanted while still lying beside each other with the possibility to hold onto each other when they wanted or needed to. At Makoto's request he did turn them back in the morning, so the house-elves wouldn't see it. Even if Haruka didn't mind it either way, Makoto thought that this was something private and personal that was just for the two of them to know about, and it was absolutely no effort for Haruka to cast a spell or two if it ensured Makoto's comfort.

"Here, Haru-chan."

Haruka was pulled from his daydreams when that soft voice spoke and a large hand came into his view, offering to help him up. Automatically his own hand found Makoto's, and for a split second he considered pulling Makoto down so they could cuddle, but then he remembered the surprise and allowed Makoto to pull him up instead. Once he was standing up, he was met with the gentle look that was ever-present in his breathtaking eyes, and the familiar sight never failed to fill every last inch of him with the most powerful form of magic there was.

"Lay off the '-chan'," he muttered out of habit.

"Sorry," Makoto said with a smile and without any genuine remorse.

Reminiscing about the nights they spent wrapped up in each other awakened a craving inside Haruka and he couldn't stop himself from encircling Makoto's waist with his arms. An affectionate smile softened Makoto's features even further and upon reading the desire in Haruka's eyes, he hugged him back and bent down to kiss him tenderly and deeply.

Makoto may have a mild chocolate-addiction, but if there was anything Haruka was addicted to then that was Makoto; his lips, his touch, his love... his everything.

Reluctantly he ended their kiss, and the smitten look on Makoto's face told him that rather than chocolate, he very much shared Haruka's addiction. The pure love that Makoto's eyes held for him made him unable to stop himself from leaning up for another shorter but nonetheless passionate kiss.

"So, where are we going?" Haruka whispered against his lips.

"Hmm?" Makoto hummed dreamily before what Haruka was referring to got through to him, "Oh! Wait a second." He broke their embrace and turned to the chest in front of Haruka's bed, taking his yellow and black scarf and a hat out of it. "Here," he said as he pushed them into Haruka's hands.

"I don't need these?" Haruka questioned in confusion.

"You do."

"It's not that cold outside." They literally just came back from Hogsmeade and he hadn't worn a scarf or hat before. It may be snowing but it wasn't freezing cold or anything.

"Haru," Makoto said as he wrapped his own scarf around his neck, "Trust me, you do. It may not be that cold in Hogsmeade with the warmth of all the shops, but it's cold outside."

When all Haruka gave him in return was a blank stare, Makoto took the accessories out of Haruka's hands and proceeded to put the hat on Haruka's head himself.

"Makoto!" Haruka protested but Makoto didn't listen to him and bundled him up with the scarf until only his eyes remained visible.

"There, nice and warm," Makoto joked and the annoyed look Haruka shot him in return made him giggle.

Haruka pulled down the scarf so he could breathe again and the adorable smile that always stretched Makoto's face at the sight of Haruka in their House colours made it impossible for him to be truly annoyed with Makoto. Whenever Makoto looked at him like this, the words that eleven-year-old Makoto spoke to him their first night at Hogwarts resonated clearly through his mind.

' _I'm so glad you're here with me_.'

He would never forget the look on Makoto's face when the Sorting Hat was placed on his head and after only a small moment of hesitation it called out ' _Hufflepuff!_ '

For as long as he could remember, everyone always expected him to be sorted into the House of Ravenclaw: his grandmother was a famous witch and both his parents were renowned and highly respected Aurors - all alumni of Ravenclaw. From the very first signs that showed that he was magically gifted the expectancy of him being just as great of a wizard as all of his ancestors had been was placed upon him, and naturally the assumption that he would be a Ravenclaw like them came into being. Even Makoto, his lifetime best friend believed that he would walk the same path that all of his family members had taken.

But frankly, Haruka had never cared for such things. He knew that he was a wizard, he had experienced things that definitely proved him to be one from when he was a toddler, but it seemed useless to him to focus on things that were so far in the future. When the time came he would get his letter and then he would be sorted into the House that fit him best. That was all there was to it.

Makoto, on the other hand, was a lot more concerned about his future. He had never voiced it, but Haruka knew that his biggest fear was that his letter would never come and that would prove that he was a Squib. It wasn't like it wasn't plausible: his father was a Muggle and although he would never dare to doubt his mother's magical abilities, unlike his best friend's parents, she had chosen the life of a housewife over that of becoming a witch who would go down in history. And unlike Haruka, he had never shown any signs that told him that he was a wizard.

At least, that was what he believed, but Haruka knew better than that; he had witnessed Makoto's magical abilities firsthand, had been seeing for years just how gifted he truly was. But Makoto had never realised it, because he always thought that everything was Haruka's doing; like when they were watching TV and he wanted to change the channel, the remote would slowly drift over to him and he would thank Haruka, but Haruka hadn't done anything. Many incidents like this would occur throughout their time spent together and Haruka knew for sure that Makoto was unconsciously doing it himself.

They never really discussed any of it, but Haruka knew that deep down, Makoto was a little envious of him. Like everyone else, Makoto had always believed that Haruka would be nothing short of an excellent wizard and although he was proud of him - perhaps even more than his parents were - he couldn't help the envy that he would sometimes feel, because his own insecurity had successfully convinced him that he was a Squib.

That didn't mean that he didn't feel guilty about it, because he didn't want to feel this way; he wasn't envious because he didn't want Haruka to accomplish great things, but rather because he felt inferior to him, like he was not worthy of standing beside him when he wanted nothing more than to stand on equal ground with him. It didn't even matter if he would never be as great as his best friend, because he had long since accepted that, he just wanted to be a part of his life and that wouldn't be possible if they belonged to two completely different worlds that would separate them, for at least seven important years of their lives. He didn't want to be left behind when Haruka went into a world in which he couldn't venture, he wanted to follow even if that meant he would stand in his shadow forever.

Makoto did nothing to give any impression like this, he was always kind and encouraging to him, but Haruka could read it all in his eyes. There was absolutely no need for Makoto to feel this way because if Haruka was great, then Makoto was amazing, but he shone so brightly that he was blinded by his own light and could only see the glow of others, or so it seemed.

But despite Haruka knowing that Makoto was just as much of a wizard as he was, he never told him that. Not so much because he was afraid that Makoto wouldn't believe him and think that he was just saying it out of pity or in an attempt to comfort him, but because he felt like this was something that Makoto had to realise on his own.

Haruka liked to think that Mrs. Tachibana shared this sentiment, because he presumably had to have shown some signs at home as well, but despite that Makoto still thought that he was incapable of performing magic.

The day that their letters came in the mail was a day that Haruka would always remember. The pure happiness that Makoto had emitted when he breathlessly appeared at Haruka's front door; he had run up the stairs just to share the good news, excitedly waving his letter in Haruka's face and blabbering non-stop about how he was a wizard too, that he wouldn't have to go to a Muggle school and Haruka wouldn't have to go to Hogwarts all by himself, but instead they would go to Hogwarts _together_.

The only one who was surprised by this news was Makoto himself, yet that didn't stop everyone from celebrating their official invitations to attend Hogwarts, School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

But soon, Makoto's bliss turned to disappointment when he realised that despite them going to the same school, they wouldn't be together, because Haruka would surely be a Ravenclaw, while he himself couldn't be anything but a Hufflepuff, just like his mother had been.

Suddenly, Haruka began to care about which House they would be sorted into.

They didn't speak about it again after Makoto mentioned it that day, and instead pretended that that problem was non-existent. For the time being they pushed it to the back of their minds and focused on the positive, light-hearted aspects of the situation and together with Makoto's parents and Haruka's grandmother they went to Diagon Alley to buy all of their school supplies such as books, robes, cauldrons, but most importantly, wands.

It hadn't been their first time visiting Diagon Alley, but it was the first time they were there specifically to get their equipment for school and therefore their enthusiasm matched that of a Muggle who first discovered the world of Wizardry. However, it was decided that the part that excited them the most would be saved for last; if they got all their shopping done first then they could spend all their time choosing a wand - or rather, being chosen by a wand - without having to hurry or worry about the shops closing before they had everything they needed.

When they had all of their supplies, they finally went to Ollivanders to get their first wands. It was nearing closing hours and therefore they were the only customers in the shop, which was a bit of a relief for them. After all, this was a special moment that they only wanted to share with each other and their family. Despite his excitement, Makoto was a little nervous and hesitant, so he let Haruka try wands first.

It didn't take long for a wand to choose Haruka: the second one he tried acknowledged him as its owner. It was an unyielding wand made out of cedar wood, with dragon heartstring as its core, ten and a half inches long. As soon as Haruka touched it, it began to shoot sparks and they knew that Haruka had found his partner.

For Makoto, the process of finding a wand that would accept him as its master was a lot longer, and to him, pretty painful. The first wand he tried was the same one that had rejected Haruka before, and it turned out not to be his wand either. The second one that was given to him, also didn't do anything. He tried many wands, made out of applewood, hawthorne, holly, cherry; long wands and short wands with varying flexibilities but none of them chose him.

With every wand that he touched and didn't respond to him, his mood dampened further and he grew more and more depressed. Even though he didn't complain about it and simply accepted another wand without a word, everyone was able to see through his fake smile because the twinkle slowly disappeared from his forest green eyes and was replaced with hurt. He didn't need to say it for Haruka to know what he was thinking; he was afraid that the fact that no wand chose him meant that receiving an admittance letter had been a mistake and he wasn't a wizard after all, because wands only chose wizards and witches, not Squibs.

The loss of spirit didn't go unnoticed by the clerk, who after the twentieth wand told him that he must be a really extraordinary wizard if there were only particular wands fit to be his, and that he would make sure to find that one special wand for him. Out of politeness Makoto tried to visibly cheer up, but Haruka knew that the wandmaker's words had not actually made Makoto feel better.

After dozens upon dozens of wands, Makoto was presented with a thirteen inch willow wand with a core of unicorn hair that was rather bendy. Completely disheartened, Makoto grabbed it without thinking and his eyes widened his genuine disbelief. Unlike with all the previous wands, the wood felt warm in his hand and when he mumbled this, the clerk simply smiled at him and told him to give it a swing. With a small movement of his wrist, a ray of white light shot from the tip of his wand, and Makoto was left in bewilderment at the sight of it before the brightest smile stretched his face at the knowledge that it had been his doing.

At last, he had found his wand as well.

That summer was spent practicing spells and charms from their textbooks with the help of Haruka's grandmother. She would have them pick a spell that they ought to learn in their first year, and she would show them how it's done. Then they would do their best to mimic what she did, and she would give them advice on pronunciation and movement of their hands. It was a little difficult at times, and sometimes a spell would go wrong during their first attempts, but they had a lot of fun; Makoto had always been a cheerful child, but Haruka had rarely seen him so genuinely thrilled and joyful as he had been that summer. Seeing his best friend being so elated made him feel just as happy, and the joy of that summer would live on forever in his memories.

On the first of September, Makoto's emotions were all conflicting. He was happy and excited, because they would finally go to Hogwarts and begin their journey of becoming full-fledged wizards, but he was also somber, because he would have to say goodbye to his family and wouldn't see them until Christmas. Next to that he was also nervous and anxious, because they would be going to be living at a place where they knew no one besides each other, and the prospect of being in different Houses made it just so that they couldn't even depend on each other for support and comfort.

Haruka, on the contrary, was as calm and collected as ever. He was already used to having to say goodbye to his parents, and although he would still miss them and his grandmother, he had prepared himself for this a long time ago. It wasn't like he would never see them again and he was perfectly able to survive a couple of months away from home. Because he knew that Makoto would definitely have a hard time saying goodbye to his parents and the twins, he wanted to comfort him and in order to do that he had to be strong so Makoto could lean on him. He wasn't afraid of their separation once they arrived at Hogwarts either, because he had already made up his mind.

With some last kisses pressed against cheeks and foreheads, they boarded the train and Haruka grabbed Makoto's free hand in silent support. His palm was sweaty in his but that only made him tighten his hold and when Makoto looked at him he nodded in encouragement and understanding. A small smile tugged at Makoto's lips and he squeezed Haruka's hand lightly before they headed over to the windows so they could wave at their families as the train departed.

When the Hogwarts Express had left the platform they went to look for a vacant compartment and they found one near the back of the train. Only when they sat down did they release their hold on each other's hand. They were lucky enough that no other student opened the door to the compartment or asked if they could join them after they settled down. For at least these last couple of hours, it would just be the two of them before they would have to part ways.

The ride towards Hogwarts was uneventful and spent mostly in silence. Makoto was a little jittery at first, but the familiar presence of his best friend made him able to relax eventually. Although there were still a bunch of things that made him anxious and sad, he reminded himself that the time he had been waiting for his entire life had finally come, and he would no longer be afraid for the things that held him back as a child because he would prove to himself once and for all that none of those things were true.

But when the train finally arrived at Hogsmeade Station, the nerves that he felt earlier increased tenfold and he unconsciously grabbed onto the back of Haruka's robes - which they had changed into during the train ride - and along with all the other first years they were led off the station and into little boats that would carry them across the Great Lake.

Once they were standing in front of the doors of the Great Hall, they were spoken to by someone who they presumed to be one of the professors, but Makoto was so nervous that he barely registered anything they said. He reclaimed his hold on the back of Haruka's robes as the doors opened and they followed behind the other students, walking into the large hall.

Four long tables stretched out before them and they could feel the eyes of all the students seated at them burning on their skin. Makoto was taller than all the other first years, yet the sight of the Hogwarts ghosts floating around the room made him cower behind Haruka, trying to make himself as small as he could. He tightened his hold on Haruka's robes, and Haruka pulled his hand off his clothing and held onto it instead, giving it a tiny reassuring squeeze.

They came to a halt at the front of the hall, and the Sorting Hat that was placed upon a stool began to sing another rendition of its song about the four founders and their respective Houses. Once it was finished the first years were called in alphabetical order to sit on the stool to be sorted into one of the four Houses by the Sorting Hat.

Being the center of attention in a room filled with so many people frightened Makoto a bit and the thought of all those eyes focused on him made his stomach churn. Knowing that his name would be far down the list, he took the time he had left to mentally prepare himself for it - luckily he already knew what House he was going to be sorted in, so that was one thing he didn't have to worry about.

When Haruka's name was called his heart jumped inside his chest. Haruka looked at him and squeezed his hand again before he let go and casually walked up to the stool. He sat down and the Sorting Hat was placed on his head.

A quiet murmur was the only sound in the entire hall before the Hat yelled, " _Hufflepuff!_ "

The sound of applause echoed through the Great Hall but Makoto didn't register any of it. His mouth had fallen open and his eyes were as big as saucers as that one word resonated loudly through his mind. He simply couldn't believe his ears. Of all the Houses Haruka could have been sorted into, the last one Makoto expected was for it to be Hufflepuff.

Haruka didn't seem surprised by this though, and he pushed himself off the stool with the same blank expression that he had worn when he had gotten onto it. He simply walked over to Hufflepuff's table and sat down without a word.

Everything Makoto had expected for years turned out not to be true in the span of ten seconds and his entire world was flipped upside down. There was only one thing he was absolutely certain of and that was that the desire to be a Hufflepuff had never been this big before. Now he just needed to make sure that he was sorted into it, too.

A few more names were called but Makoto didn't hear any of them nor which House those students were sorted into, because all he was focused on was _Hufflepuff_ , _Hufflepuff_ , _Hufflepuff_.

Then his name was finally called and he quickly stumbled towards the stool and climbed on top of it. The Hat was only on his head for a millisecond before it exclaimed, " _Hufflepuff!_ "

A radiant smile lit up his face as he hopped off the stool and practically ran over to Hufflepuff's table, sitting down beside Haruka. His heart was pounding harder than it ever had and an unknown ecstasy overcame him as he tried to formulate a proper sentence out of all the thoughts that were shooting through and melting together in his mind.

 _"What?"_ Haruka had nonchalantly questioned, trying to act as if nothing out of the ordinary had just happened.

Makoto's beaming smile changed to a softer one; the one that Haruka liked to think of as _his_ smile, because Makoto only ever looked at him this way. _"Nothing_ , _"_ he simply murmured, _"I'm just really happy_. _"_

With a flushed face Haruka averted his gaze and he did his best to keep his stoic expression, but it wasn't quite working. Even though he pretended to be apathetic about this entire situation, he was truly just as happy as Makoto was - and perhaps even more.

Because he knew he had just made one of the best decisions of his life.

When the Sorting Hat was placed on his head, it began to speak in recognition; it remembered sorting Haruka's ancestors into Ravenclaw all of those years ago. But Haruka gave it no time to continue with any speculations about whether or not he would also be a Ravenclaw like his family members had been, and simply stated his desire to be sorted into the House of his own choice: Hufflepuff.

The Sorting Hat was compliant, for the House of Hufflepuff accepted everyone, but it couldn't help but be curious as to why the House of Hufflepuff held Haruka's preference - after all, it was not the first choice of most other students.

' _Because I'd rather spend seven years alongside my best friend than continue the legacy of my ancestors.'_

That in itself proved that instead of having a nature typical for Ravenclaw, he was a true Hufflepuff at heart.

A hand coming up to brush his fringe out of his face and a soft kiss pressed against his forehead was what pulled him out of his reverie. He looked up again and he was met with the same loving expression Makoto had worn all those years ago. No matter how much time passed, the knowledge that he would always be on the receiving end of that fond gaze proved to him again and again that he couldn't have made a better choice.

Makoto's eyes told him that he wasn't the only one who was recalling their first day at Hogwarts; like their hearts, their minds were seemingly connected as well. Despite it already being five and a half years ago, there was still a bit of astonishment in his forest green eyes at the recollection of that memory, like he still couldn't believe that it had actually happened and that Haruka was actually right here with him.

He had never told Makoto about his sorting, but the way Makoto smiled at him with something that he could only describe as gratitude, Haruka knew he didn't have to tell him for Makoto to know. And he had never regretted his decision to state his preference because he knew that here, in this Hufflepuff dormitory, inside the arms of the person he loved more than anyone or anything, this was where he belonged. This was home.

Suddenly Makoto's smile turned a little goofy and Haruka could practically hear all the sickeningly sweet thoughts that were flying through his head.

After all those years, Makoto still never failed to make him blush with his unspoken declarations of affection. "What?" he mumbled and he averted his eyes, and Makoto's fingers let go of his hair to stroke his cheek instead.

A small kiss was pressed between his eyebrows, now on top of his fringe. "Nothing," Makoto responded in the same tone he did back then, and he dropped another kiss onto Haruka's nose, "I'm just really happy." That was what he said, but Haruka could clearly hear the ' _I love you_ ' in his voice.

For nostalgic reasons he didn't say anything back. Instead, he got up on his toes and kissed him in a silent answer. _I love you, too._

Like he did with every kiss, he pulled back with reluctance before quickly pressing a second one against his lips. After all, he could never seem to part from Makoto's lips with just a single kiss. Makoto was more than used to this by now so he simply accepted it like he did with every kiss that Haruka blessed him with.

"Shall we go?" he proposed when Haruka was back on his feet.

Honestly, the trip down memory lane made him forget all about Makoto's surprise, but now that he mentioned it, he was starting to feel pretty hot with his coat, hat and scarf on inside the warm room. Besides that, the flame of curiosity was once more awakened so he simply replied, "Lead the way."

They left the dorm and common room, but they hadn't left the Kitchen corridor before Makoto already came to a halt. Now standing in front of the portrait of a gigantic silver fruit bowl, Haruka was more confused than ever.

"You want to show me something in the kitchens?" Haruka asked in bewilderment. That made the need for their coats and hats even more of a mystery; it was always warm inside the kitchens. Not that they should know that, since the kitchens weren't a typical hang-out spot for students, but like most Hufflepuffs, Makoto was on good terms with the majority of the house-elves which wasn't inconvenient in terms of midnight snacks.

"No," Makoto said with a shake of his head, "Just wait here for a second, alright?"

"Okay."

A heartening smile was shot his way before Makoto turned to the portrait again. Then he reached out his hand and began to lightly stroke his fingertips over the pear on the portrait, which began to squirm and laugh at the ticklish sensation before it transformed into a green door-knob, granting him entrance to the kitchens.

Usually Haruka would have followed after him, but since Makoto specifically asked him to wait here, he stayed put and waited for Makoto's return. He wouldn't want to unintentionally ruin or spoil part of his surprise, especially not since he hadn't seen Makoto this excited over something since he was assigned the position of captain of the Quidditch team.

After a mere minute or two the door swung open again and Makoto reappeared with a small jute potato sack that did nothing to betray what he could have gotten, yet it didn't seem to be filled to the brim. Haruka swallowed the questions that popped into his head and trusted that whatever food or items may be inside, everything would be explained to him soon enough.

A giddy smile painted Makoto's face and he grabbed Haruka's hand. "Come on," he said and he gently tugged Haruka's arm.

"No more pit-stops?" Haruka teasingly asked as they fell into a slightly rushed step.

"No more pit-stops," Makoto confirmed with a chuckle.

Makoto led them outside of the castle, which explained the need to keep on their coats. Haruka would hate to admit, but he had been right; it _was_ cold outside. The wind was biting at the exposed pieces of his skin and he stuffed their intertwined hands inside his coat's pocket for protection and warmth. It was a tight fit, but they would make it work.

The freshly fallen snow crunched underneath their feet as they walked around the building, approaching the little hut that was located outside of the school, just in front of the Forbidden Forest.

"The gamekeeper's hut?" Haruka questioned, once more in complete bewilderment. It was a place that made more sense in terms of scarves than the kitchen, but Haruka had absolutely no clue what kind of surprises Makoto could possibly keep hidden there. It wasn't like either of them were particularly chummy with the gamekeeper himself or anything.

Makoto just shook his head, delight at the fact that Haruka was clueless about his secret evident in his eyes.

Despite his denial, they kept going in the direction of the hut. Haruka was even more confused than before but he kept his mouth shut, not wanting to give Makoto the satisfaction of his wrong guesses.

However when it became clear to him that instead of the gamekeeper's small and cosy hut, it was the Forbidden Forest Makoto was heading towards, he stopped dead in his tracks.

"The Dark Forest?" he questioned in genuine disbelief, "You have a surprise hidden in the Dark Forest?"

When all Makoto did was nod in confirmation, his smile never wavering, Haruka was completely lost.

"You know we're not allowed to enter the Forest without a professor's supervision." And for good reasons at that. All kinds of creatures lived inside this forest, one even more dangerous than the other. Besides that, it was very easy to get lost inside the forest - and if he had to choose, Haruka would much rather get lost inside the forest of Makoto's eyes. So the fact that Makoto would willingly enter such a dangerous place while simultaneously breaking the rules - which the thought of was usually enough to make him sweat - ensured that Haruka was at the pinnacle of confusion at this moment.

"Just trust me, alright?" Makoto soothed with so much confidence that it made Haruka doubt whether this was really his boyfriend or if this was actually someone who had taken Polyjuice potion to pose as him.

That fleeting thought was immediately scrapped when Makoto looked at him in that special way. No matter how skillful of a poser one may be, no one in this entire world possessed the ability to smile that way but Makoto.

"Alright," Haruka sighed, a history of unconditional trust winning from his doubts, "Let's go, then."

"I promise it will be fine," Makoto assured once more as they continued to walk and entered the forest, whisking away any last insecurities that Haruka had.

Haruka couldn't explain it, but he believed and trusted Makoto with ever fiber of his being. Despite it being a place which he usually wouldn't venture in, somehow he felt like he was completely safe with Makoto by his side. Like Makoto would protect him from any sort of danger they could possibly encounter.

It was a little conflicting; since their childhood he had always considered himself to be Makoto's protector, but he supposed that switching between protecting and being protected, relying on and being relied on, fit them much better.

Still, even if he felt secure in Makoto's hands, that didn't mean that he understood what the hell they were even doing here. The Makoto that he knew and grew up with was supposed to be terrified of places like this - it wasn't nicknamed the Dark Forest for nothing - but he acted as if he was familiar with this forest and its inhabitants. The winter sun was still shining brightly so that was a positive aspect, but that didn't take away from the fact that many creatures that lived here could harm them. Did he befriend a flock of nice centaur that vowed to protect him after saving one of their kind from an unfortunate death?

Although that was highly unlikely, the thought of it brought a small smile to Haruka's face. It was really something for Makoto to get caught up in strange situations, and perhaps this trip into the woods was the aftermath of an incident like that.

That brought him back to the biggest question of them all; what was the surprise that Makoto kept hidden here and was practically dying to show him? Was he going to take him on a flight on a Hippogriff and show him the lake from above and upfront, let him experience the sky in a way that differed from brooms? Or did one of the thestrals have young and were they going to feed it?

Whatever it may be, Haruka hoped that they would reach their destination soon. Like Makoto had rightfully claimed earlier, it was cold and after strolling around for quite some time, he was starting to get a little tired - keeping in mind that they also needed to get back to the castle, he knew he wouldn't be able to make it much farther.

He may have the stamina on his broom, he definitely didn't have it on land.

With a red nose and breath coming out in little puffs, he asked, "Are we almost there?"

"Almost," Makoto chuckled, knowing how impatient his boyfriend could get. "Just a little further."

How Makoto could say that with so much conviction, Haruka didn't know because all these trees looked the same to him. But for the umpteenth time that day, he decided not to question it and just go along with him. If it was really too far for his liking, then he would let Makoto carry him back, he thought with a mental shake of his head, knowing that Makoto would actually do it if he seriously asked him to.

True to his word, a couple of minutes later Makoto came to a halt. Haruka stopped beside him, looking around himself only to come to the conclusion that this part of the forest looked exactly the same as the rest of the forest had in the past twenty-five minutes. He had absolutely no idea what Makoto could possibly want to show him here. And that was when Makoto whistled.

"Sweetheart!"

The sound of Makoto calling out that pet name brought a frown to Haruka's face. Makoto never really used pet names, not even for him - well, besides the childish "Haru-chan" then. The only times he had ever heard Makoto say something like that were when they were petting the stray cats back at home or occasionally during the practical classes of Care of Magical Creatures. That meant that Makoto was calling out to a beast of some kind, and Haruka could not think of a single creature that lived here that was suited to be nicknamed "Sweetheart."

"Sweetheart," Makoto called again, accompanied by the same tune he whistled before. He slowly stepped forward, cautious yet still self-assured.

For whatever reason Haruka knew that instead of following Makoto like he usually would, he should stay where he was and not make any sudden movements. It was what he unconsciously gathered from his body language.

It was silent for a minute, the only sound being the echo of some bird singing in the distance. And then, Haruka heard snow crunching underneath what he assumed to be hooves.

"Ah, there you are!"

And that was when he saw it.

Makoto's surprise had four long legs, stood out brightly against the snow that seemed grey in comparison to it, had long mane and neighed softly when Makoto stroked its nose with his fingers.

But the most outstanding feature was definitely the horn on its head.

It was a unicorn.

Makoto's surprise was a unicorn.

Haruka's eyes were blown wide and his mouth hung slightly open at the sight of what Muggles thought of as a mythical creature. Of course, he knew that they existed but he had never seen one in real life before, let alone in the wild and up close.

And despite Haruka having been quite sure that the only correlation between Makoto and unicorns were the core of his wand and a mild fascination, it seemed that there was more that connected the two as Makoto was petting and talking to the unicorn as if it were his own pet.

"It's okay, Sweetheart, don't be scared," Makoto soothed the creature as if it had personally told him its fears, "This is Haru-chan. I told you about him, right?"

Sweetheart didn't answer - what, at this point, wouldn't even have been a surprise if it did - and Makoto reassuringly caressed its head. Then he turned back to Haruka with a smile and beckoned him closer with a motion of his head.

Slowly Haruka approached Makoto and his equine friend, and he tentatively reached out the palm of his hand. When no trace of hostility appeared in the unicorn's demeanour, Haruka slowly turned his hand to pet its nose.

"A unicorn," Haruka stated with remnants of disbelief, "Your surprise is a unicorn."

With a nod of his head and a hum of agreement, smile never wavering, Makoto introduced, "Haru, this is Sweetheart. Sweetheart, this is Haru-chan."

The unicorn whinnied softly as if it were responding to the introduction at which Makoto chuckled lightly.

"I think she said 'Hi'."

Ignoring Makoto's comment, Haruka blurted out the first and most obvious question that he had at this unusual encounter and unlikely friendship, "When did you have time for this?"

Makoto and he were practically joined at the hip: one was never seen without the other, so how the hell did Makoto find the time to befriend a unicorn to the point that it trusted him enough to let a strange man pet it? Surely Haruka would notice if Makoto suddenly disappeared from his side and as far as he knew they were basically always together, but apparently he had somehow missed any possible clue or hint that his boyfriend had secret meetings in the middle of the Forbidden Forest.

"On Mondays, when you have Potions."

That was not the answer Haruka was expecting, but he shouldn't be surprised because that was pretty much the only reasonable and logical answer. There were only two classes they had to spend without each other and Potions was one of them. From the very beginning Makoto had been terrible at brewing potions and although Haruka always tried his best to help him, he truly was a lost cause. Even though the instructions were as clear as water to Haruka, Makoto somehow managed to mess things up the majority of the time. He mixed up ingredients and amounts and brewed things that couldn't be described as anything but a complete disaster when left to his own accord. Thanks to Haruka's help and supervision it never went completely wrong and they were able to prevent him from blowing himself up or otherwise harming himself, but it was safe to say that everyone - not only they, but also the professor and other students - was incredibly relieved when their fifth year came to an end and Makoto was able to drop the class for the remaining two years.

The only other class that they didn't share was History of Magic, that was so boring that Haruka couldn't stand to live through two more years of it and therefore he was forever glad that he decided to drop it; the only reason he passed his O.W.L. in the first place was because of Makoto, who despite sharing the sentiment of boredom sometimes, still thought of it as an important subject that he needed to follow, because history was doomed to repeat itself so it was important to learn from past mistakes, according to him. Haruka felt differently: if there was something he wanted to know about then he would just ask his grandmother, who lived through some of the most crucial moments in history and he trusted her memory more than some stuffy old textbook. Besides, he already learned everything he needed to know from quizzing Makoto for exams without having to rot away in a dusty classroom.

So that mystery was solved, but there were still dozens of questions that were on the tip of Haruka's tongue. Even though he may have had nothing to do during those hours that they were separated - which he completely understood because he was also bored when Makoto had History of Magic, although it was not as unbearable as actually attending was - Makoto was not one to suddenly wander into a forbidden place without a goal or purpose.

"Still, how did you even find her?" Haruka asked then, tearing his eyes away from the ethereal being for the first time since he saw her to look at Makoto, "I thought all unicorns had fled from the Forest during the war."

"I thought so too," Makoto replied, confirming that it was something that was commonly known instead of some wild idea that only Haruka had. "But one Monday, a couple of weeks ago, I was bored so I decided to take a stroll around the castle to pass time until Potions ended. When I walked past the Care of Magical Creatures classroom I bumped into the professor and she asked if I wanted to help her out with something. I agreed and asked what it was and she told me that there was an injured Hippogriff inside the Forest that she was taking care of and she could use some assistance with cleaning its wound. The mention of the Forest made me a little hesitant, but she assured that the most dangerous creatures are nocturnal or in hibernation and that, as long as we respect them and their habitat, none of the creatures would harm us. So we came here and I tried to comfort the Hippogriff while she rubbed some ointment into the wound and refreshed its bandages. From the corner of my eye I saw a white horse in the distance and didn't really think much of it, until I thought I saw a horn on its head. I couldn't really go look to see if it was real and I assumed that it must have been my imagination, 'cause like you said, I thought all unicorns left the Forbidden Forest ages ago. But I couldn't shake the feeling that maybe I hadn't seen it wrong so when we got back to the castle I couldn't help but want to confirm if what I thought to see was true. So I came back and despite knowing that most of the aggressive beasts are either nocturnal or hibernating, I was still a little scared. But curiosity won from fear and I searched for a while and then I found her around this area."

A tiny smile stretched Haruka's lips as he pictured Makoto's anecdote in his head. Makoto had always been fond of animals, both pets and more wild and magical beasts, and this affinity was definitely not one-sided. This mutual liking resulted into Makoto being at the top of their year when it came to Care of Magical Creatures. It had never been a surprise to Haruka, because he knew that from the day they got their letters that Makoto was already looking forward to their third year so they could follow the subject. At first he was a little hesitant when it came to feeding some of the carnivorous creatures and taking care of the more creepy-looking critters, but he gradually got used to it and he was able to easily tame the most ferocious beasts. Even though the talent Makoto possessed for taking care of living beings could easily make their fellow students jealous, that rarely happened because the sight of Makoto handling each and every creature with utmost care and concern was so adorable and endearing that it could make even the coldest of hearts melt from the cuteness of it all - but admittedly, Haruka may be a little biased.

All in all, it wasn't odd that even unicorns who vastly preferred a woman's touch were not immune to Makoto's natural charm.

Haruka was pulled from his thoughts when he heard Makoto chuckle and his eyes were drawn to Sweetheart, who was sniffing at the jute sack in Makoto's hands.

"Oh, I completely forgot!" Makoto exclaimed merrily as he reached into the sack and took a carrot out of it - that explained the trip to the kitchen -, "Here you go, please forgive me, my princess."

Sweetheart accepted the proffered carrot gluttonously yet somehow still remained graceful as she ate it. Her snout was probably ticklish against his open palm because Makoto flexed his fingers when he pulled away, but that didn't stop him from reaching into the bag to grab a second carrot. Instead of feeding it to Sweetheart like Haruka was expecting him to, he handed it to him.

"Here, she loves carrots," he said with a wink and Haruka understood that Makoto was offering him a way to win the unicorn's affections. So he took the carrot from Makoto and fed it to Sweetheart. His previous assumption turned out to be true; her snout was ticklish and Haruka's nose scrunched up slightly at the feeling of it, which made Makoto chuckle even more. "Tickles, right? She's always that eager when it comes to carrots; I once brought her some apples too but she didn't like them as much. So because she strongly prefers carrots, I decided to bring only her favourite today."

Seeing Makoto so genuinely excited about something as simple as feeding Sweetheart with him filled Haruka's heart with the welcoming warmth of overflowing love, although it was probably not so much the feeding itself that caused him to be so thrilled, but more so the fact that he could finally share his secret with Haruka. Despite this, he couldn't help the small, nagging question that was weighing on his stomach: why didn't Makoto just tell him about Sweetheart?

When Makoto saw the look on Haruka's face his smile faltered and Haruka could read all his concerns in his eyes. He was afraid that Haruka hadn't liked his surprise now the initial shock was over and that he had hyped up his expectations only to disappoint him in the end. But it didn't take long for his smile to return and a look of understanding painted his face.

"I was surprised she didn't run away when she first saw me," Makoto continued the story of how he met Sweetheart and Haruka understood that the answer to this question was part of what had happened, "She was absolutely beautiful and my first thought was that I wanted you to see her, too. But I was afraid that she might feel intimidated if we both approached her so I wanted to win her trust first. Next to that, I didn't want anyone else to know about her because she would probably feel threatened and run away, so I wanted to make sure that no one would be able to see or even follow us if we suddenly came here. With the prospect of another weekend trip to Hogsmeade coming up, I thought that would be the perfect opportunity to come here without raising any suspicion."

Makoto paused for a second to grab another carrot from the sack and he offered it to the unicorn, who was growing more and more impatient. Then he turned back to Haruka.

"It was so hard not to tell you, but I wanted it to be a surprise. I wanted to see your reaction to her, " he murmured softly.

"Beautiful," Haruka sighed as he stroked his hand down Sweetheart's neck, still a bit mesmerised at her presence.

Makoto's smile widened and he nodded at his response, and something told Haruka that he was not talking about Sweetheart this time.

"She had to warm up to me a little at first, though," Makoto resumed speaking and he broke their eye contact to look at Sweetheart instead, a cute pink blush adorning his already tinged cheeks. Haruka had the feeling that he was just saying this out of modesty; the fact that Sweetheart hadn't fled from Makoto at the first signs of him being in the forest spoke volumes when it came to wariness from the unicorn's side. Or perhaps his curiosity had been mutual and Sweetheart had been just as interested in this strange but charming human male as he was in her. Honestly, with Makoto, anything was possible.

"And now she loves you," Haruka stated teasingly, although neither of them could deny that it was true.

"I think the carrots play a big part in that," Makoto replied, "But in order to get them, I had to tell some of the house-elves. I'm sorry, Haru; I wanted you to be the first to know but I also wanted it to be a surprise and when I asked for carrots and apples they wanted to know what I needed them for and I couldn't think of an excuse so I told them. They promised not to tell anyone, though!"

"Makoto," Haruka said to calm his rambling boyfriend, "It's fine. I don't mind, I…" he trailed off, knowing exactly what he wanted to say but having a hard time expressing himself. After taking a moment to collect and encourage himself, he breathed in deeply and spoke, "I really appreciate that you did all of this for me. Thanks."

At that unexpected but incredibly earnest declaration of gratitude Makoto's eyes turned comically wide and his blush practically radiated off his face. Haruka witnessed this from the corner of his eyes, peeking at him through his fringe for his head was turned towards his feet and Sweetheart's golden hooves. For a second it was completely silent save for the howling wind that was blowing through the trees, but then Makoto laughed heartily and pressed a tender kiss against the side of Haruka's face.

Somehow this made Haruka feel both more at ease but also more self-conscious and all he wanted to do was hide his own equally red cheeks in Makoto's chest. These were things that were pretty embarrassing for him to say out loud and even though he knew that Makoto understood that he was grateful to him even if he didn't outright say it, he also thought that Makoto deserved to hear it from him sometimes. It was something that he was slowly getting better at overtime, but he still struggled a little. Luckily for him, Makoto completely understood and supported him, always loved him despite his shortcomings - although Makoto would say that he loved his flaws too. After all, these flaws were all part of what made him who he was.

The electric and somewhat emotional atmosphere was broken when Sweetheart whinnied and nudged Makoto's hands with her nose again.

"What, do you want another carrot?" Makoto asked in disbelief. "You already ate so many!"

"I think she just wants your attention." Haruka was actually glad for her interruption, because it gave him the opportunity to change the subject without it being too odd. "Why did you name her 'Sweetheart' anyway?"

"Hm? Oh, it wasn't really intentional. It was what I first called out to her to beckon her, and it kind of stuck, I guess?" Makoto said a little sheepishly, "She responds to it now so it would be strange and confusing to call her differently all of a sudden."

How cute, Haruka thought but in order to spare them both from any more shame, he kept this comment to himself. However, this brought him back to something Makoto had said earlier and the teasing side of him just had to ask him about it. "You talked to a unicorn about me?"

Makoto spluttered as he tried to form a response to Haruka's question, but when Haruka snorted he had to giggle as well. "I had to tell her that I was taking you, right? She's very smart and I didn't want to surprise her."

That was not a lie, but it wasn't the full truth either and they both knew it, but since he could very well imagine the kind of things Makoto talked to an animal about, he decided to cut him some slack. It wasn't anything he hadn't heard before anyway.

"What did you think the surprise was?" Makoto asked then, "What were you expecting?"

"I had no idea so I wasn't really expecting anything," Haruka shrugged, "I was surprised when we came here so I thought maybe you'd show me a Hippogriff or something."

"Would you have liked that more? There is a Hippogriff not too far from here, but it's wounded so it's better to give it some rest for now and-"

"Makoto," he interrupted, "Nothing I had in mind could compare to this; I like this. A lot."

The fear of disappointing that had once more bubbled up inside Makoto left his body in the form of a small sigh. "Still, that might be fun too. Maybe when it's all better we can visit it, and perhaps it'll even let us on its back for a flight!"

A tiny smile tugged at Haruka's lips at Makoto's proposal, finding it amusing how Makoto's thoughts immediately went in the same direction as his did earlier. He wasn't lying when he said that he really liked Makoto's surprise and it hadn't disappointed him in the slightest, but he couldn't deny that a flight on a Hippogriff also sounded nice - as long as the Hippogriff itself was on-board too, of course. Then again, pretty much everything sounded appealing when it was Makoto who suggested it.

"I'm not sure how many Hogsmeade weekends we have left, though."

"We'll figure something out," Makoto assured, sounding more like he was confident that they would rather than brushing it off to be forgotten.

At that point Sweetheart seemingly reached the end of her patience because she took a step back and began to walk away, making fresh prints in the snow with her hooves.

"Sweetheart, wait! You're already leaving?" The disappointment was obvious in Makoto's voice and his smile was reduced to a small pout. "Do you think she's mad because I didn't give her another carrot?"

"Maybe. Or maybe because your attention was too divided for her liking." It wasn't like he wanted Sweetheart to leave, but the thought of the unicorn being jealous of Makoto paying more attention to him than to her was oddly amusing to Haruka.

They watched as the unicorn slowly stepped away, but after a couple of meters she came to a halt again. She looked back at Haruka and Makoto and stayed where she was.

A slight frown appeared on Makoto's face and he turned to Haruka with a questioning gaze.

"Do you think she wants us to follow her?" Haruka asked, sceptically raising an eyebrow.

Makoto shrugged in response, "I guess?"

Internally Haruka shrugged as well before he began to walk towards the unicorn. At the sight of Haruka coming towards her she continued to walk so Makoto followed after them. Sweetheart's pace picked up slightly but it was not fast enough for Makoto and Haruka to be unable to keep up with her.

"Where do you think she's going to take us?"

Haruka wasn't sure why Makoto was asking him considering that he wasn't the one who was well-acquainted with the Forbidden Forest and its occupants, but he supposed that Makoto's curiosity meant that he also had no idea what was going on and that Sweetheart had never done this before. "I don't know, but I hope it's not too far." They had to walk back to the castle at some point and Haruka was already dreading that enough as it was.

After walking through the forest for another minute or two they reached a glade and Haruka stopped dead in his tracks when he saw what Sweetheart had brought them to.

On the ground beneath a large tree lay a small, golden foal.

"She has a foal?" Makoto questioned in disbelief as he watched how Sweetheart lied down beside it.

"You didn't know she was pregnant?"

"No! She wasn't pregnant: surely I would have noticed if she was."

"Maybe it isn't hers, then. Or maybe she had it before she met you and has decided to introduce you now."

"Either way, you know what this means, right?" Makoto asked, his tone filled with pure elation.

Haruka nodded with a tiny smile. "There are more unicorns around here."

"They've returned!" Along with this exclamation Makoto wrapped his arms around Haruka, hugging him tightly from behind and resting his chin on Haruka's shoulder.

Funny how it turned out that Makoto's surprise to Haruka had a surprise in store for himself as well, Haruka thought as his smile widened a little and he put his cold hands over Makoto's arms, seeking to return his touch.

For a minute they stared at the two unicorns from afar, sharing a quiet moment of witnessing the beautiful miracles of nature together.

Haruka caressed Makoto's arms before he let go. "Shall we go to them? I'm sure they'd love to have some more carrots."

"Alright," Makoto murmured and placed a mushy kiss right beside Haruka's ear before he let him go.

"That was loud," Haruka grumbled, raising his hand to his ear automatically. He really hated it when Makoto kissed that harshly so close to his ears. Small and soft kisses were fine, but hearing the loud noise of Makoto's lips smacking directly in his ear just really irked him. Makoto was fully aware of this but whenever he was distracted like he was now he tended to not mind where he placed his chaste or quick kiss, for every patch of available skin was just as inviting as the next.

Makoto's larger hand found his as he took a step forward, stretching out Haruka's arm as he raised his red fingers to his face. "Sorry," he apologised, and to make up for it he pressed another kiss to Haruka's fingers.

Any annoyance that Haruka might have had evaporated into thin air at the sweet gesture. He turned his hand and grabbed Makoto's hand in his, rubbing his thumb over his skin in forgiveness.

"Come on," Makoto said, his enthusiasm to meet the latest addition to the Forbidden Forest's family shining in his eyes and he lightly tugged at Haruka's arm as he began to walk over to Sweetheart and the foal.

Haruka let himself be pulled along as he questioned who was more adorable, the tiny unicorn foal or his overgrown and joyous boyfriend - the latter, he immediately decided.

Their pace decreased when they got closer to Sweetheart and the foal. Even though foals were generally more trusting when it came to human men than adult unicorns were, they didn't want to possibly startle or scare it so they approached it slowly and cautiously. Haruka stayed back a bit and he let Makoto meet the foal first, not wanting to intimidate it by trapping or enclosing it. If it were a bit frightened, then Makoto's gentle aura would successfully calm it down so that Haruka would be able to come near without causing it to panic or flee.

Now that he was standing closer to it he was able to study the foal better. It was still very young; even though guessing the age of unicorns was not exactly Haruka's field of expertise, it was easy to tell by the pure golden coloured hair and mane that it had. It would take a couple more years for its horn to grow in so save for its hair colour, it would be able to pass for a horse foal, although it had a certain enchanting quality to it that even the most majestic horses lacked.

Makoto bent through his knees to make himself appear smaller and less intimidating and he slowly reached out the palm of his hand to the foal. "Hey there," he cooed in the kind voice that he reserved for small children and animals. When the foal did nothing to suggest that it was experiencing any form of discomfort, Makoto looked back at Haruka.

Reading the confirmation in Makoto's eyes, Haruka nodded and he came closer and crouched next to Makoto and the foal. He reached out his hand as well and the foal sniffed at his fingers. Then he stroked the foal's back, noticing that the hair underneath his fingers felt a tad softer than the hair on Sweetheart's back had earlier.

Makoto reached into the sack again to grab another carrot. "Do you want a carrot, sweetheart?"

"You're naming this one 'Sweetheart' too?" Haruka snorted.

"Oh, I didn't even notice," Makoto said a bit sheepishly, "Sorry, I guess I just say it automatically."

"It's alright, it's just a little confusing if this one gets used to being called 'Sweetheart' as well."

"You're right. And you deserve a name of your own, don't you?" Makoto told the foal as he rubbed its small head affectionately as it gobbled up the carrot. It seemed like the tiny unicorn had already stolen Makoto's heart, and it wouldn't be a surprise if that sentiment was returned. Apparently Haruka wasn't the only one who noticed this; Sweetheart nickered at Makoto, obviously not pleased with the lack of attention - and carrots - she was receiving. Had she been jealous of Haruka before, then she was now jealous of the foal that may or may not be her own. "I'm sorry, Sweetheart," Makoto muttered, "I didn't mean to ignore you. Here, you can have another carrot as well."

Unlike Sweetheart, Haruka chose not to be jealous of all the attention Makoto was paying to the foal - and Sweetheart. Not only was the sight of Makoto with the animals adorable beyond comprehension, but they only saw him once a week at most while he was able to spend almost every hour of every day by his side. And even now, when Makoto was preoccupied with petting and feeding the unicorns, he knew that he was the one who was truly in possession of Makoto's heart and he would make sure that he always would be.

He shook his head a little to rid it of these stupid thoughts that were shooting through it, and he decided that it would be better to concern himself with more important things. Makoto had mentioned giving it a name, and he supposed that it would be useful if they knew what sex the foal was.

"He's a boy," Haruka informed after checking.

"I was just about to ask that," Makoto commented, the beaming smile ever-present on his face, "What do you think we should name him?"

"Saba."

"He's a unicorn, Haru, not a mackerel!" Makoto protested with a shake of his head.

"You name him, then."

"Hmm…" he mumbled as he thought, "What about Kintarou? It fits him, right?"

"He's not going to stay golden forever, Makoto. It fits him now but in two years he'll be silver so will his name be Gintarou then? And after that he'll be Shirotarou?"

"You're right. He deserves a name that will fit him for his whole life. Even though he won't stay golden forever, I'm sure that he will be cute forever," Makoto said full of confidence before he turned to the foal again, "Isn't that right, sweetheart?"

"You're doing it again."

"Oh, sorry."

It was endearing how Makoto's mouth seemed to utter that nickname without his notice when he was talking to cute animals, but they better think of a real name for the foal soon before it'll be accidentally stuck with the name 'Sweetheart Junior' for the rest of his life. Not that the foal himself would care either way, but like Makoto said, he deserved to have a proper name of his own.

A thoughtful silence fell between them as they pondered over possible names for the foal. The only names that popped into Haruka's mind were all fish-related, and considering 'Saba' had already been shot down, he knew better than to suggest 'Katsuo' or 'Maguro' because they would not get Makoto's seal of approval anyway. Like guessing the age of unicorns, naming them was not within Haruka's realm of expertise either.

Even despite Haruka's fishy struggles, it was hard to think of a name for a beast that you know would change so much appearance-wise. And they hadn't known the foal for long enough to pick a name based on his character - and even if they did know, it was not guaranteed that the foal would stay the same as he grew up.

This was all just too much effort so he decided to stick with his previous statement and let Makoto name it.

After another moment of contemplation Makoto's soft voice sounded out again. "How about 'Yoichi'?"

"Yoichi?"

"What do you think? That's a cute name, right?" he questioned, wanting to know Haruka's opinion even though Haruka could read in his eyes that he really liked that name.

"I guess." It wasn't like he had a better suggestion.

"I've had multiple names in my head, but this is the only one that feels good. It kind of suits him, right?"

Yoichi. Haruka repeated the name over and over in his mind while he looked at the foal and with every echo it seemed to feel better. "Yoichi," he mumbled aloud, the name rolling of his tongue with practiced ease, tasting right in his mouth. It did sort of fit him, how strange that might be, although the fact that Makoto was so excited about this name was probably a large contributor to this feeling of righteousness. "Alright, Yoichi it is."

Makoto's smile widened even further and it practically radiated off his face. Unicorns might stand out brightly against the snow, but so did Makoto's perfect smile.

"You hear that?" he gushed at the foal, "Your name is Yoichi."

To celebrate the name-giving, Makoto grabbed the remaining two carrots out of the potato sack and gave one of them to Haruka and together they fed the unicorns. Yoichi didn't seem to mind his newly acquired name - mainly because he hadn't understood what Makoto had told him - but he was happily munching on his carrot without a care in the world.

It was an adorable sight, although it couldn't even begin to match up to the sight of that content smile on Makoto's face, his gorgeous eyes sparkling with delight. Even if Haruka didn't particularly care for the name Makoto had picked, the satisfaction that he got for witnessing his boyfriend so lively and gleeful was far greater than the feeling he would have gotten had the unicorn be named 'Saba'.

If Makoto was happy, then so was Haruka.

They stayed with the unicorns for a little while longer and Makoto chatted some more with Sweetheart and Yoichi, not minding the one-sidedness of the conversation. Haruka mainly watched, a tiny smile painted on his face as he pet the unicorns.

Eventually Makoto pushed up his sleeve to look at his watch; he had gotten it from his parents on his seventeenth birthday and he had been wearing it ever since.

"I think it's about time we head back. It won't be long until it gets dark and we better be back in the dorms before then." Makoto stuff the empty sack into his coat's pocket, zipping it up so he wouldn't lose it on the way. Then he got up and stretched his back, after which he reached out his hand to help Haruka up. "Let's go, Haru-chan."

"I told you to stop with the '-chan'," Haruka complained, but he accepted Makoto's hand all the same. He would never refuse that hand.

"Right, sorry." That remorseless apology would always stay the same, and honestly, Haruka wanted it to.

They said their goodbyes to Sweetheart and Yoichi, along with the promise on Makoto's part to come back on Monday. With last pats on backs and caresses on noses, Makoto and Haruka left the two creatures behind.

When they reached the edge of the glade they turned back to Sweetheart and Yoichi to wave at them before they walked back into the densely forested part of the area.

After a couple of minutes of quietly walking through the forest, Haruka could already feel his legs growing tired again. He had walked more today than he usually did in two weeks; not only had they wandered through the forest to get to Sweetheart and Yoichi, but before that they had also strolled around in Hogsmeade for quite some time and he wasn't used to that at all. So the thought of the road still ahead of them made him wish that Makoto had told him that they should've taken their brooms.

Of course, any change in Haruka's mood would not go unnoticed by Makoto. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing, I'm just tired."

"Want me to carry you back?" Trust Makoto to be able to read his mind.

"Yes," Haruka said with a deadpan voice, but he wasn't actually serious.

"Alright," Makoto simply shrugged and he stopped in his tracks, wrapping his arms around the top of Haruka's thighs right beneath his pelvis and he lifted him up effortlessly.

Startled by this action, Haruka encircled Makoto's neck with his arms and he held on for dear life as Makoto continued to walk as if nothing had happened.

"Makoto, put me down! I was just joking," Haruka protested. He honestly didn't know what he had been expecting when he had agreed to Makoto's proposal because this shouldn't have been a surprise at all. Makoto would do pretty much anything for him - and Haruka would for him too - so this was not an odd situation at all.

A mischievous twinkle appeared in those forest green eyes as he came to a halt and Haruka unfortunately concluded that he was not the only one who was in a teasing mood today.

"What's the magic word?"

"What?"

"No, that's not it," Makoto sang with playful grin, "Try again."

"Makoto," Haruka sighed, mildly annoyed. He did not have enough energy to deal with Makoto's teasing right now.

"Nope, that's not it either."

Despite his exhaustion and slight irritation, a small smirk appeared on Haruka's face. Luckily for him, this was Makoto, and he had Makoto wrapped around his finger; he knew just which buttons to push.

Haruka loosened his grip around Makoto's neck and tangled his fingers in the hairs at his neck that were poking out beneath his hat. Then he lowered his head and softly brushed their noses together before he tenderly kissed his lips. A surprised hum slipped into the kiss but despite being a bit startled Makoto kissed back eagerly, his hands itching to touch Haruka, to hold his face or stroke his back, but they were preoccupied with holding him up.

When Haruka ended their kiss and pulled back a bit, a dazed look was written across Makoto's face and Haruka knew he had accomplished his goal.

"That was not the magic word, but I'll take it," Makoto said and as promised, he gently put Haruka back on his feet. Haruka cradled Makoto's face in his hands and in response Makoto wrapped his arms around his waist as they shared a second sweet and loving kiss.

Every second spent by Makoto's side was a second cherished by Haruka. These moments were all filled with the innocence of their childhood, the blitheness of their school days, the security of their future together, but most of all with the unconditional love that was present for their entire lives.

He couldn't describe the feelings Makoto gave him as anything but pure magic.

"Animagus," Haruka whispered against Makoto's lips after they parted, "That was your magic word."

"That's right," Makoto confirmed and he rested their foreheads together.

It wasn't like Haruka hadn't known that from the start and he wanted to prove that to him. He had simply been too stubborn to give Makoto the satisfaction of having his way, and not only did Haruka win this round, he also got to kiss Makoto and that in itself was always a win too.

After pressing a final, chaste kiss against Makoto's lips Haruka broke away. "Come on, we better get going before it really gets dark."

"Yeah," Makoto agreed and he let his arms drop to his side. "You sure you don't want me to give you a piggyback ride? It's a pretty long walk back to the castle."

"I'm sure. The way back home is always quicker, anyway."

"That's true."

Their hands found each other like it was second-nature and with intertwined fingers they walked back home.

* * *

 **A/N: Thank you so much for reading and I hope you enjoyed! :)**

 **If there's anything that was unclear in this fic or that you didn't understand, or even if you just want to discuss this fic with me, please don't hesitate to contact me. I'll happily explain or discuss anything. ^^**

 **You can find me over on Tumblr and Twitter DatHeetJoella if you want to talk with me about MakoHaru or anything, really.**

 **Thank you so much for everything and I hope you'll have a wonderful day!**


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